Quarto: Aa-Bb4; A-X4, Y6; aa-dd4. Complete. Profusely IllustratedThe Most Complete Edition Fourth and most complete edition of Huttich?s "Imperatorum et Caesarum Vitae", his most important work, first published in 1525. The first section covers the imperial families from Julius Caesar to Gallienus, the son of Valerian. This section is followed by "thirty tyrants", a group of third-century would-be usurpers and self-proclaimed Augusti and Caesares, and the emperors and Augusti from Aurelian to Theodosius II and Valentinian III. This section is followed by the emperors of the Eastern Empire based at Constantinople, beginning with Martian and concluding with Michael Cyropalates. The revival of the western imperial line begins with Charlemagne and concludes with the reigns of Charles V, Emperor of Germany and his brother Ferdinand I. This edition includes a supplemental section: "Elenchus Consulum Romanorum" a chronological list of the consuls printed between decorative woodcut borders. This section concludes with a series of woodcut medallions. The ornate divisional title border shows scenes from the Iliad including Achilles dragging Hector around the walls of Troy. "Besides the borders, there are 84 medallions, obverse and reverse, in the same style as the preceding, apparently by Weiditz." (Fairfax Murray)"A friend and correspondent of Erasmus (who dedicated his translation of Lucian's 'Convivium' to Huttich) and Ulrich von Hutten, Huttich studied at the University of Mainz when the city was a stronghold of the new antiquarian learning. While accompanying Frederick II on a diplomatic mission to Spain, Huttich collected pamphlets describing Spanish and Portuguese voyages to the Americas, later published as 'Novus Orbis' (1532)."Huttich work falls into the category of Bildnisvitenbücher, collections of portraits of famous men and women, accompanied by biographical sketches? The second edition of Vasari's 'Lives of the Artists' (1568), in which each biography is accompanied by a woodcut portrait elaborately framed, was clearly influenced by this type of popular literature. The Renaissance cult of the hero, of 'virtus' and 'fama', helps explain the widespread appeal of these works, in which the humanists, as Rave points out, sought to combine the two devices employed by the ancients to immortalize their great men, the 'vita' and the 'effigies'. The growing sense of national identity during this period also played a part in the production of volumes devoted to kings, legendary heroes, and literary lights of France and Germany, a motivation that explains much of the content in the numismatic books of Huttich and Rouille."(Cunnally, "Images of the Illustrious") Adams H-1248; BM German p.427 (602.b.I); Chrisman H5.1.4b; Fairfax Murray #219; Campbell Dodgson II, 148; Brunet III, p.392; Cunnally, pp. 197-198 Bound in contemporary limp vellum, lightly worn. Internally, this copy is in very good condition with wide margins and only minor soiling. There is a natural paper flaw in one leaf, entering the text bit with no loss. The main title features an elaborate woodcut border. There are also two divisional woodcut title pages and two leaves bearing large printer?s devices.This volume is profusely illustrated with several hundred woodcut images, most of which are by Hans Weiditz. "The medallions of the emperors [and their families] are 268 in number, commencing with Julius Caesar and ending with Frederick III, Maximilian I and his son Philip the Fair, Charles V and Ferdinand I. Most are enclosed in ornamental borders with fauns, cupids, Adam and Eve, Godfrey of Bouillon, Hercules etc." (Fairfax Murray) FOURTH AND MOST COMPLETE EDITION. This is "the first with the ?Elenchus? and the first with this title." (Fairfax Murray). Bookseller Inventory # 2498D

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